Under the Weather but Above the Fray

Today has been a sick day. Nestled comfortably in our bed for most of the day, I didn’t allow this inconvenient cold to take me completely out of commission. Sure, it meant that I’ve only worked a little over an hour today, but I also didn’t allow it to ruin my spirits. With my husband by my side, today turned out to be a good one for the both of us.

I’ve been running myself a bit ragged lately. I don’t suppose it’s much different from the usual. However, it does often take its toll. I have horrible sleeping habits and despite knowing better, it persists. I worked in Atlanta yesterday and by the time I arrived home last night I knew that today would be one of those days where I bristle from the world and clung to the comforts of bed. My husband had been the instigator, having felt ill the day before. Today was my turn. I nursed him back to quick health and it was now my turn to feel under the weather.

My brother says that I’m a hypochondriac. I’m not. I just end up getting sick whenever I’m in the room with someone else who is sick. It’s just a shoddy immune system I think. I loathe being sick. As if I wasn’t moody enough as it is, being sick has always made me feel entitled to acting like a pouty brat. I crave the attention and being doting on when I’m sick. My husband is always there to oblige.

Being self-employed has its very obvious advantages. However, when you’re ill, you often spend a great deal of time thinking about having to make up the hours. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. No sick time. But what has worked in my favor is in working ahead. If you work ahead, you can take the time you need for these types of inconveniences. So, today has been a little bit of a paid sick day. Those are nice if there is anything good that comes from being sick.

I’ve written a few new poems lately. For the year, I’ve written four. When I’m most tormented, I write poetry. That said, they are all poems about my exes and one about my husband. I look forward to posting them when the time is right. That’s code for when I feel like typing them. My poems are always handwritten. They’re almost always scribbled on a hotel notepad – The Ritz-Carlton, Fairfield Inn & Suites, you name it. That’s my life’s stationery. LOL.

I also finally finished our taxes this weekend. I was going back and forth on whether or not to file them or file an extension. The healthcare marketplace made an error on our 1095A, an error that I pointed out to them several months ago. Who knew that my doing the right thing would cost me an additional $1,500 in taxes and being told that I may as well file an extension because I wouldn’t get the corrected form before April 18. I have a high need for task closure and since I have become accustomed to filing an amendment, I filed them anyway. Considering the amount that we need to pay the IRS for 2015, there seemed like no better time than the present. How did this happen? Well, I neglected to pay estimated quarterly taxes for Q4 and so that coupled with having been given what resulted in being too much of the healthcare tax credit — we now owe the IRS several thousands of dollars. The upside is that we were able to pay all of our state tax bill and so we don’t owe both taxing entities. Also, I was able to pay off Q1 2016 taxes before the April 18th deadline. There’s always some sort of silver lining, right?!